Railway-spike.



C. G. METZGAR.

. ii f Fla [VITA/39856, /N VEN 70K M www dur-5W ,B MM- @uw #Mw l'RA/EY'S.

CLARENCE G. METZGAR, OF KANE BOROUBH, PENNSYLVANIA.

' RAILWAY-SPIKE.

Specification of Letters P`atent.

Patented May 20, 1913.

ppncanon mea october 27, 1909. serial No. 524,856.

To all whom it muy concern Be it known that I, CLARENCE G. METZ-V GAR, a' citizen ofthe United States, residing in the borough of Kane, county of VMcKean, and Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railway- Spikes, of which the following isA a full,

` clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyingr drawings, which form a partl of this specification.

The object lof my invention is to produce 'a rail spike which, when driven into place, will embed or anchor itself in the tie in such manner that it will be efl'ectually held from either lateral or lupward movement, and therefore cannot be worked or shaken'loose, either by ordinary repeated vibrations of moving trains 0r by any sudden strains or shocks to which the rail maybe exposed.

Another object of the 'invention is to so construct the spike that it may beV withdrawn from the tie withas little difficulty, and with as little injury to the tie, as inthe withdrawal of an ordinary spike.

Another objectof the invention is to so construct the spike that it is adapted equally well for use either in substitution for the ordinary spike, `in substitution for chairs and tie plates, or in connection with chairs and tie plates.

Another object.; of my invention is to so construct the spike that it may be manufactured without any special tools or* ap- A pliances, and at an expense not substantially exceeding the cost of manufacture of an ordinary spike.

In the drawings: Figure l shows a side elevation of my improved spike applied to a rail and tie, the rail and tie being shown in section. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the spike.

In the ordinary operation of railway trains, the rail is subjected to varied strains,

.the chief of which are, first, outward pressure lupon the rail due to the pressure of the wheel fianges against the inner side of the rail head, which tends to swing the rail upA wardly on the outer edge of its base flange and to slide the same laterally; and secondly, downward pressure upon the rail due to the weight and momentum of the passing cars, which causes the rail to vibrate in a vertical direction. The resultant of these strains, which is transmitted to the spike, is to tend to move the spike laterally in the tie as well as to work it upwardly; and as, the Wood of the tie is more or less yieldingA and resilient, the ultimate eiiect is to en,-V large the spike-hole and loosen the spike. I have found by experiment and observation that the spike at its upper end tends to move ,upwardly and outwardly, which motion, being resisted by the material of the tie, in' turn tends to move the lower end of the spike upwardly and inwardly; so that in fact the ultimate lateral movement that the spike tends to have is not a mere upward ,y

and outward movement but a swlngin movement on an axis above the lower en or point of the spike combined'w'ith a vertical movemept, which combined movement` tends to wear away the spike-hole at its lower end as well as its upper end. The spike. illustrated in the accompanying drawings 1s adapted to so en age the wood, and at such points, that al of these various tendencies to displacement will he eifeotually resisted, whether the 'strain benormal and prolonged or abnormal and Sudden. c

a, is the shank of the spike, which is beveled at its lower end on its outer and inner faces, the angle of the bevel being somewhat greater on the outer face than on the inner face. The upper end of the spike is provided with a head composed of two parts.' The rail engaging part b is located at one side of the shank and is adapted to over-lie thebase flange of the rail and is bev eled on its lower side so as to adapt it to such flange, this part b corresponding to the rail engaging part of the head of an ordinary spike. The part e d of the head eXl tends on the opposite side of the shank and is bent downward at its extremity and bev eled to a fairly sharp edge to form a claw, spur, or prong adapted to'be driven into the tie. The rail-engaging part b of the head, as well as the part of the head immediately above the shank a, is of Substantially greaterl 5 0r cut a notch e and in the outer face a notch j. These'notches each are so shaped as to ,form'a shoulder, vfacing upward, whichcon- Iiects with the normal face of the tie bya Will'inclined with respect to said face at a cig'iparatively smalll angle. The notch e is loed relatively near the lower end or point of the spike, and the notch f is located relatively near'the'head of the spike.

LThe features hereinbefore specifically enumerated Aare not all absolutely essential to the attainment of the functions sought, but certain of them areessential and .others areof importacey as will be hereinafter pointed out, yparticularly in the claim.

fhe rail g being laid upon'the ties, the spike is-driveninto the tie in the ordinary way'; that is, in vcloserproxirnity to the base gngeof therail so that when the spike is iven home the under side of the. part b 5 'of the head will come incontact with the rail flange and bind it rigidly to the tie. At they same time, the spur d will be driven into thetie until nearly or quite its whole length ,will be embedded therein. The thickness oi the part cl ofthe spike should not exceed the thickness of the part b by an amount exu ceeding the thickness of the rail' flange., as

it ls-of more importance that the part I) shall firmly abut against the rail flange than that the lower face of the part c shall abut against the tie. As soon as the spike is driven home, the wood will immediately tend to resume its ogiginal condition and will expand and en- -the notches e .and f, thereby holding 40 Vspike from upward displacement, but

.so ,firmly asfto preventthe withdrawal fthe spike, as it is possible to withdraw the same-with comparative ease. and without demageto the tie, which would not be the 'ease if there were a number of notches in one ormore sides of the shank. The spur d of ,the tie'coperates with the notches e and f tojetfe'ctually hold the spike from lateral or upward displacement.

From what has been hereinbefore stated, it will be appreciated that the spike, under ghestresses and strains to which it is subereof to which arrows have been applied,

.55`iri the several directions in which such ar rews'respectively point. It will therefore be understood that such` supposed movement lcteitends to move, at the different partsV oil thespike, to the extent that it occurred, would force the spur portion of the head deeper .into the tie. This would be ofadvantage, but would not of itself prevent, eX- cept possibly in degree, the movement. of thc spikewithin its hole; but in my improved spike, this tendency is resisted bylthe shoulders of the notches e and f, which are so placed as to resist said movement; or if such-v movement, in minor degree, should nevertheless occur, the notches are so disposed as to compress the wood at precisely the points where the hole tends to enlarge and 'thus maintainer even increase the grip of the spike.

I do not claim any novelty in the use oia spur on the outside of a spike head, norv broadly in the employment of a notch or shoulder, but these features have never'hereto'fore been so combined and arranged as to coperate to eftectually resist the stresses and shocks tending to loosen the spike. i

Having now fully described my invention,

what I claim andvdesire to protect by Iietder surface and the under-cut portion, an.l

auxiliary shank formed integral with thehead and dependingr therefrom and in parallel relation, with the first-named shank,l

said auxiliary shank'being arranged' ai the rear of the said head-relative to the unlder-A cut portion, said head being formed at its longitudinal edges to -provide shoulders',saidf shoulders projecting laterally relative to the said Shanks, and merging into said under-v cut portion, said under surface and shoulders4 adapted to bear directly upon the tie, andv said under-cut portion adapted-to be spaced from the tie and to conformv to the'contour of the rail flange whereby to securely hold the same in position.

In testimony ofw'hich invention,AI :have hereunto set. my hand, at Philadelphia, Pa., I

. CLARENCE GMETZGAR. Vitnesses: O

F RANK S.4 BUSSER, M. M. Hariri/ron.

on this 22nd day of October, 1909. 

